


Romantic Execution

by charcolor



Category: UTAU
Genre: F/F, Yandere, Yandere Ruko, but it doesn't really matter much, miko is 15 because of wolf years to human years, rook isn't in this bc i don't like him
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-06-27
Updated: 2017-06-27
Packaged: 2018-11-06 02:37:48
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,332
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11026851
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/charcolor/pseuds/charcolor
Summary: Ruko is just a clueless little girl. Ever since she was adopted into the ever-growing VIPPER family, she's had her eyes on the charming rose-haired diva, Kasane Teto. But when she finds out about Teto's own feelings, her eyes truly become their two different colors--one blue with sorrow, the other red with rage.





	Romantic Execution

* * *

Yokune Ruko was certainly a strange sight. A tall, lanky girl, yet still young and innocent at the age of twelve. Big, black pigtails framed her smiling face, with two different brightly colored eyes. One a sweet rose red, hinting at her romantic nature. The other a bright sky blue,  giving away her innocence. Her blue left eye matched the stray lock of hair along her face, dyed beautifully. A midnight blue flowing cape followed her wherever she went, open enough to leave her black pants visible. She wore a single white glove on her right hand, the wrist covered by a detached long sleeve, just like the one on her left arm. 

In any other setting, she would look absolutely bizarre, towering over everyone in her flashy complex outfit. But at the VIPPER house, she was right at home, with the little boy always dressing in Lolita fashion, and the creepy albino girl who had a thing for traffic lights and Kagamine Len. Later came the baby werewolf and the oblivious oni girl with expressive horns.

Out of everyone in the house, Kasane Teto seemed to stick out the least. Sure, she was rumored to be a chimera, but it was only a rumor. Her elegant rose-colored drills and her petite height charmed Ruko when the two first met. At fifteen (although rumored to be thirty-one) she was the head of the VIPPER house, known to be the house of singing misfits.

Teto was always pulling pranks on all the other VIPPERs. Everyone seemed to have a different reaction to these. Sukone Tei would look Teto in the eyes and whisper a monotonous threat, although nobody ever seemed to take her seriously. Namine Ritsu, known for more brutal practical jokes, would end up being competitive and combating with his own prank. Ooka Miko would bite Teto with her little fangs, in a different spot each time. 

Ruko thought the pranks were hilarious. She got so excited every time Teto played tricks on her, and Teto's eyes lit up with satisfied glee at the sound of Ruko's powerful laughter. Ruko never wanted to retaliate; she just didn't have the nerve. After all, she didn't want to accidentally anger the love of her life.

"Do you like coffee shops?" Teto asked her one day.

Ruko, who'd been lying on the sofa rubbing her eyes drowsily, suddenly jolted upward attentively. "I love coffee shops!" she answered, in her loud vibrant voice. "I like to get a different kinda coffee every time!"

Teto smiled. "Well, one just opened up in town. You wanna try it out?"

Ruko immediately nodded, smiling with a sudden strong glee bursting in her heart. Was Teto asking her...on a date? "Yes!" she shouted, her colorful eyes glistening. "Yes, Teto, I'd love that!"

Teto clapped her slender hands together in excitement. "Alright, let's go! We gotta be there as quick as we can!"

Neither Ruko nor Teto were old enough to drive a car, but that was fine, since the new coffee shop was just down the road. Teto gripped Ruko's hand as she led her down the sidewalk. Ruko tripped over herself at first, being so tall, but she quickly fell into step. A few neighbors were out and about as well, and while they did give the two of them strange looks, they quickly returned to minding their own business. The VIPPER house had been in the neighborhood for a few years now, and while not everyone was familiar with all the VIPPERs, at this point they were at least used to Ruko's height.

The coffee shop was a quaint white building, with a freshly painted wooden sign above the door.  _Utau Cafe,_  in curly lavender writing."How'd you hear about this, Teto?" Ruko asked, as the two girls slowed to a stop beside the door. "I haven't heard anything about an Utau Cafe."

Teto giggled adorably. "Well, you're always sleeping around in the house, after all. I don't think you've been to a coffee shop in a while, right?"

Ruko nodded. "Yeah, true...before this one, there weren't any coffee shops nearby. I could never leave the house just to get coffee after I moved in."

"Well, let's go in! Look, they've just opened up!" Teto pointed to the door, opened to let out some calming, rhythmic piano music and warm lights.

As they walked in, Ruko immediately inhaled the wonderful scent of hot coffee. She closed her eyes to focus all her attention on it, and when they opened again, Teto was at the counter, beckoning Ruko over. "Come on! This here's one of my girlfriends!"

Ruko was surprised by the way she referred to the small lavender-haired girl watching from behind the counter. Teto was never one who referred to her female friends as "girlfriends." Perhaps she and the barista were especially close.

"Oh, how come I've never met you?" Ruko asked politely, approaching the girl. "What's your name?"

"Uta." Her voice was cool and melancholic, and she was looking at Ruko through narrow purple eyes. She smiled just a bit. "Me and my other girlfriend just opened up this place."

Ruko blinked. "Other girlfriend? What do you mean?"

Teto let out an amused sigh. "Ah, did I forget to tell you about Uta and Momo? We haven't seen each other too much since the VIPPER house opened up..."

"Did someone say my name?" called a sweet, singsong voice, followed by its rose-haired owner appearing from the kitchen. Her bright green eyes widened. "Oh! Teto! It's been so long!"

Teto grinned. "Ah, yeah! Ruko here's never met you two, huh?"

Momo grinned, her teeth white as snow. "Ruko? Nice to meet you! I'm Momone Momo. Uta and I started dating Teto just a few years ago."

"A...few years?" Ruko glanced at Teto. "You never..."

"Well, we fell out of touch." Teto crossed her arms, looking away in shame. Her soft pink lips puckered a little in sadness. "But once Uta told me about the cafe they were about to open up nearby, I knew we'd have a chance to see each other again!" Her glistening eyes looked back at Ruko, her smile so innocently oblivious.

Ruko agreed to drink coffee, across the polished oak table from Teto. Ruko was able to keep up a regular conversation with her, but the coffee was bland and lukewarm, for the inside of Ruko was already too full of heat.

All this time, Teto had been in love with not one, but  _two_ girls. Not only that, but Teto never even  _hinted_ at it. All this time, Teto had looked at Ruko with those sweet rosy eyes full of adoration. She'd fooled Ruko into thinking that she was hers. But no, right before her eyes, her love was stolen. By two strangers, no less! As soon as Ruko shut the bedroom door behind her, after what seemed like forever, her knees dropped to the floor. Icy tears spilled from her eyes, one by one. She glanced up into the bedroom mirror, and saw her fiery eyes glaring. One blue with the sorrow that had overcome her so suddenly. One red with the shaking rage running through her blood.

Blood...oh, how she'd love to see the blood gushing out of their bodies, ripped open with her bare hands. They were accomplices of a crime, a crime of deception and manipulation.  _If I...if I were to...if I could punish them that way...maybe my Teto would realize she can't trust her own instincts...not anymore..._

A knock pulled her out of her daydream. She stood, her long legs shaking, and pulled her door open to see an albino girl, standing up straight right in front of her so that the two were nearly at eye level. Tei raised her eyes to look at Ruko. "Hello." Her voice was breathy and calm, as usual.

"Hi, Tei." Surprisingly, Ruko was able to keep her voice from shaking, but Tei stared right into Ruko with her apple-colored red eyes. Her small mouth curved upward into a smile. "C-come in," Ruko continued, starting to feel unsettled by Tei's unbroken glare.

Tei sat down on the carpeted floor across from Ruko, the only light coming from the clouded sun through the windows. Tei's white hair gleamed as she folded her hands politely. "I know you're trying to stay calm, but I can sense your anger."

"Huh?" Ruko blinked, raising a hand to her mouth. As she did, her finger burshed against a tear streak along her face. Of course. Ruko's tears must've been glistening in the faint sunlight.

"I know what must have happened." Tei's voice was kept to that calm, quiet whisper. "I've seen the way you've looked at Teto since I came here. You're in love with her, I can tell. And when you came back from that coffee shop, you looked so upset. You watched her be stolen, didn't you?"

Ruko didn't have words. How could she know?

"Well, I can help fix it." Tei leaned forward, holding her gaze toward Ruko. "Wouldn't you like it if the thieves were gone?"

Ruko nodded. "If all the thieves in the world were gone...no one could take Teto from me."

"You see, Ruko, I'm very experienced." Tei's innocent smile widened into a proud grin. "I could take care of them for you. Would you like that?"

Ruko knew exactly what Tei meant. Just the mere thought of those criminals lying bloody and broken on the ground made the corners of her mouth turn up. But Ruko wanted more than that. Ruko wanted to carry out the punishment herself. She wanted to be the one to hear their final screams of agony and panic. She wanted to feel their cold blood spill on her warm skin. She wanted to rip open their skin, still mixed with their own essence, until they were unrecognizable as anything but the monsters they were.

Ruko closed her eyes, and inhaled deeply. She could feel hot rage rising in her again. "No," she whispered, opening her eyes again. "I don't think I'll need your help."

Tei's smile faded into a small, surprised frown. "Hm? Are you sure? You're still very young, after all."

"I think I want to do it myself." Ruko's affirmation of her confidence gave herself a little smile. "I can do it. I think it's better if I do it myself."

Tei giggled. "Well, at least let me give you some advice, okay?"

* * *

The oak wooden tables glowed in the morning sunight flooding all throughout the room. The only sounds were the early birds singing just outside the uncovered windows and the little footsteps scurrying around in the kitchen.

Momo's slender legs danced into the room, a feather duster in one hand. Following her was her slightly taller lover, her hands tucked into the pockets of her black pants. Uta watched through sleepy lavender eyes as Momo energetically dusted each table. "You've never been this stressed. Are you sure you'll be okay?"

Momo giggled, as softly as peaches. "I'm not stressed! I'm excited! We have a new employee, don't you remember?" As she moved from table to table, she twirled the feather duster with her fingers.

"Of course I do," Uta replied. "Teto's friend?"

Momo took long, light steps over to Uta, and leaned in to quickly kiss her on the cheek. "Mm-hmm!" She then moved on to her next table, as a harsh blush rose in Uta's pale face. Uta responded by tucking her head into her chest, but at the sound of a gentle knock on the glass door caused both her and Momo to look back up.

It was unmistakably Yokune Ruko. Her flashy outfit--she hadn't gotten her uniform yet, apparently--was vibrantly highlighted by the rays of the sun. She was barely short enough to fit in the whole doorway, as Momo rushed over to open it for her. Ruko blushed, seeming to suddenly realize just how much taller she was than the other girls. "Um...h-hi." Ruko gave them a sheepish smile. "Nice to see you. I hope I'm on time."

Momo waved her duster in glee. "Yes, yes! Come on, I'll show you the ropes real quick!"

Ruko followed Momo behind the counter into the kitchen, ducking under the doorway that happened to be just an inch or so shorter than her. The kitchen was a quaint area full of wonderfully familiar coffee-making necessities, like all different kinds of coffee beans and milk and sugar, but Ruko's own heartbeat distracted her from looking around. Now that she was alone with Momo, she had to carry out her punishment perfectly.

The first thing that caught her eye was the gleam of glass. On a smooth wooden counter stood stacks of different kinds of coffee cups, all different shapes and sizes. Some were made of glass. Ruko's right fingers wiggled just a bit inside her lone silk glove. Broken glass was sharp. Very sharp, and very dangerous. But if it caused some kind of fatality there was no way to make it look like at accident.

Ruko quickly thought over Tei's advice, which reminded her of her options. The best way to do this would be to knock Momo unconscious with a blunt force to the head, which would attract Uta, which would leave Ruko time to break glass and use it as a weapon. She turned her attention back to Momo, explaining how each machine worked and what each label on each ingredient meant, keeping an eye out for anything blunt and heavy.

Along with various coffee machines, there was also an oven for baking pastries. Ruko knew better than to try to pick up a whole oven, not to mention the complex attachment to the wall. The coffee machines, though smaller, weren't much better. But Ruko's eyes widened with inspiration when Momo presented the toasters.

"This is one of my favorite parts!" Momo's excited smile was so deceptively innocent, Ruko almost felt a tinge of regret, but it quickly faded into eagerness. "We have these two regular pop-up toasters," Momo continued, "but we also have this commercial pop-up toaster my father gifted us! I'll show you real quick how it works, let me get a couple of bagels!"

As Momo walked around the counter in the middle of the kitchen, Ruko observed the toaster. For most people, it would be tough to pick up something of that size, but Ruko was nearly six and a half feet tall. Her left hand was bare, so if she wanted to leave no fingerprints she'd have to use only her right, but it would still be easy to wipe away fingerprints. Not only that, but the fingerprints of Momo and Uta were likely on it too. Lastly, she had to consider the hazards. Yanking the toaster's plug out of the wall could cause some kind of electrical damage, for all she knew. She also wanted to wait until the bagels were toasted, to give Momo a burn along with a concussion, but that put her at the risk of burning her own hand.

One thing Ruko feared is that she wouldn't be strong enough. But then she remembered a piece of Tei's advice: "If you're lacking strength, or courage, just think about the things those girls did. It'll fill you with an impossibly powerful rage, it'll give you the strength to do anything." Just those words lit a small fire in Ruko's heart again, and the fuel of the flames was the sight of Momo returning, two bagels in each hand.

"Make sure to wash your hands before touching any of the food!" Momo warned, slipping the bagels one by one into the slots. She pulled down the two switches, causing the bagels to slip inside the toaster. "Look at this, Ruko! It works mostly like those other toasters. These knobs by the bottom here, they adjust the browning level of whatever you're toasting. But there's one for each side! So if you want you could completely burn the two on the right, but leave the two on the left at a golden brown. isn't that--" Her beautiful green eyes widened, with confused surprise. "Ruko, be careful! You m-might burn your hands, or--w-what are you--"

She was silenced by the thump of the toaster against the center of her forehead, and immediately dropped onto the white tile floor. It was louder than Ruko expected, and she knew her plan would be in danger once she let the oven slip and fall on top of Momo, with a light bang against the floor between her legs. Ruko's instincts kicked in. She rushed towards the glass coffee cups she'd gazed at before, and impulsively swept the whole stack to the floor, causing an explosive cluster of clashes and shatters. The glass split into millions of shards. Ruko bent down to pick up a bundle of the biggest ones, just as a scream sounded from the kitchen doorway.

From the way the girl's voice was choked up and scratchy, Ruko instantly knew it was Uta, witnessing the assault on Momo and Ruko's vandalism. But the fact that she saw those things didn't really put Ruko in any danger. The poor girl was paralyzed, her knees trembling and nearly buckling, as her unusually wide eyes bulged to stare at Momo's unconscious body lying on the floor. She didn't even notice Ruko was taking quick but silent steps toward her, a bouquet of glass in her right hand. Ruko shot her bare left hand across Uta's little neck. The girl was short enough for Ruko to place her chin gently on top of her head, as she rose her right hand and, summoning every ounce of fury and rage, plunged the shards straight into Uta's wide-open mouth, down her throat. Another scream rose out of her, but was halted by the bubbling of her own blood. As she tried to squirm free of Ruko's grasp, the shards only went deeper. Hot tears spilled from Uta's bulging eyes into the bloody pool inside her mouth, until her movements softened and her voice was suddenly stopped.

Ruko released the girl, who fell dead onto the floor like an old doll. She walked over to Momo and watched her rest peacefully on the floor. Her chest rose and fell, shaking with each movement. She was still alive, and so the execution wasn't finished.

"I killed Utane Uta" seemed like such a surreal thought to run through the girl's mind. But when it did, it filled her body with such a strange flavor of glee. It was incredibly sweet, so sweet it squeezed her heart just a bit too tight. This strong bliss ran through her blood all the way to her fingertips, which she realized were reaching around Momo's neck.

She squeezed, just as her heart was being squeezed with joy. Tighter, tighter, until all her sins were let out of her body so she lay still on the ground. Teto's thieves, Teto's criminals, they would be erased, and Teto would open her eyes and realize her soul had been aligned with Ruko's this whole time. They were soulbound, and no one could ever get away with breaking that bond.

Her thoughts were interrupted by a distant, muffled voice. "Uta? Momo? Ruko?" It was Teto, her voice full of clueless charm. "Are you in there? It's almost opening time, and, uh..."

If Teto were to break into the shop, and find Ruko leaning over Momo's unconscious, dying body like this, there was no way she could be forgiven. Once Momo's gently shaking breaths slowed to a definite halt, Ruko reached again for the glass shards used to kill Uta, and slashed her neck. The hot, stinging pain, fueled by the absolute ecstasy filling her soul, released an ear-piercing scream from Ruko. She threw the shards across the room, let herself fall into the floor beside Momo, and closed her eyes. It took all her effort to keep herself from smiling slyly. She let her breath slow down, as if she were peacefully asleep. She felt her own blood trickle down her neck onto the floor, just as she heard the sound of the door being knocked down, and frantic footsteps coming closer and closer.

Just as she heard Teto's scream, choked to silence by her own tears, Ruko felt herself drifting away into sleep, the pain in her neck numbing as she felt herself slip away. Seemingly moments after she rested in cold darkness, she was slowly pulled back into the waking world, her head against a rapidly beating heart, and her body resting on cold, bare legs. A trembling whisper reached her ears. "Ruko...Ruko..."

Ruko pulled her eyelids open, to see Teto's wide, wet, rose-colored eyes staring down at her. Her sweet round face was highlighted by the trails of her own teardrops, and her whole body was shaking with horror. "Ruko..." Her peachy lips trembled as she whispered the name. "I...who could have..."

"Huh...?" Ruko wiggled just a bit, as she always did when settling into the waking world. She blinked the sleepiness out of her eyes. Normally, when awakened she would look at her surroundings, but she could not tear her eyes away from Teto's. "What...happened?"

"Who hurt you...?" Teto's tears began to spill again, as her voice faded to a panicked whisper. "Who could've done something like this...?"

Ruko reached her fingers to her neck, still bleeding, slowly but surely. "I...I don't remember what happened..." she murmured, her eyelids falling again. Poor Teto was quaking with horror and shock, and her tears were unstoppable. But the fact that she was cradling Ruko in her arms made Ruko feel warm inside, despite the cold blood running through her veins. Being so close to her was so purifying. The hyper ecstasy pulsing through her body had been quelled into a soft satisfaction, and the warmth of Teto's soul spread through her own body.

"I-it's going to be okay...it's going to be okay..." Teto whispered over and over, bringing Ruko closer to her. "I've called the police, and...are you feeling okay...?"

Ruko's eyes closed, and Teto's concern made her smile dreamily. "I'm okay," she murmured. "I'm just tired...with you here, Teto, I know everything will be okay."

"But your throat's hurt."

"I-I think someone tried to hurt me. After hurting them. But when I heard your voice, I had faith you'd save me. So I screamed, as loud as I could, just as they cut me..." Ruko opened her eyes again, to see the same fearful face watching her. "Thank you, Teto."

Teto's quaking lips gave Ruko a weak, uneasy smile. But it faded as she whispered, "Who...?"

For the next few days, poor Teto was inconsolable. She shut herself in her bedroom, and through the wall Ruko could always hear her sobbing, screaming that it was all her fault and how she wish she knew who had done it. What could Ruko do to make Teto feel better?

Perhaps if the killer was executed, Teto would be satisfied. But Ruko couldn't kill herself. That would ruin the point. So it was time to frame somebody.

One thing Ruko had noticed while living with the other VIPPERs was that the oni girl, Hinomoto Oniko, didn't seem to realize she was an oni. At first, Ruko thought she was just a bad liar--after all, her horns were extremely noticeable, especially when she was angry--but on the nights when Ruko woke up in the middle of her sleep, she heard slow, dazed footsteps and a monotonous, entranced mumble in the halls. When she had the courage to see the noise, it was coming from Oniko, sleepwalking with her naginata in one hand.

Ruko concluded that Oniko was an innocent human girl with an oni constantly living in her mind. And if she was unaware of her own oni, how would she know for sure who else was posessed? How would she know whether or not two teenage baristas were onis in disguise?

On a moonless night, Ruko fought the usual urge to curl up in her bed and fall asleep, and instead waited to hear Oniko stumbling around the house. Ruko then opened her own door with her right hand, holding her cell phone in her left, and took light steps toward Oniko's room at the other end of the hall. The carpet stopped there, and Ruko's bare feet touched a cold hardwood floor.

Ruko awakened her phone to activate its mini flashlight. She saw Oniko's notebook on her desk, open to an unfinished page. She read the neat, elegant characters to herself:

_I haven't seen any victims today. However, I still suspect the sleepy girl Ruko. She's been acting quite erratically lately._

Ruko turned back the notebook pages. It seemed Oniko was keeping a journal of those who she'd suspected were posessed by onis. If she suspected Uta and Momo, she would have had reason to hurt them. Ruko tore out the page of the notebook and crumpled it into a ball, which was dropped in the dark green trash bin beside the golden brown desk. Ruko then looked closely at Oniko's handwriting, and copied each letter perfectly as she wrote a replacement entry:

_When I tried to free the coffee shop girls from their onis, I made an awful, tragic mistake. I left before I was caught and reprimanded. But now two of the girls are dead, and one may still be posessed. The other two onis may be wandering in this very neighborhood. I am a disgrace. I can only hope a miracle will occur, and I will make up for this sin."_

When Oniko was found with her own naginata pierced through her body, Ruko "discovered" the notebook. Teto was distraught at Oniko's suicide, which was not what Ruko wanted. Teto was supposed to be relieved that the excecutioner was dead. Tei visited Ruko again that day.

"I hope you're careful," Tei warned, her voice as calm and breathy as ever. "You'll be suspected if you eliminate too many people."

"I don't need to hurt anyone else," Ruko responded. "Don't worry."

Tei narrowed her red gaze, skeptically. "Things can get out of hand really quickly, you know. You better keep your desires in check."

A few hours later, Ruko overheard a discussion downstairs from the bedrooms. It was Miko and Ritsu, their voices clear and recognizable.

"Wow, Miko! You're just like a real detective!" Ritsu's voice was as bright and enthusiastic as always.

"Oh, gosh, really?" Miko's voice was soft and innocent in comparison. "Well, all it takes is a little close inspection..but it's a bit strange, isn't it? Why would anyone want to kill Oniko?"

"Well, um..." Ritsu paused. "What about that coffee shop killing? Maybe this was a revenge killing."

"You don't understand, Ritsu. If Oniko didn't commit suicide, then her suicide note was forged. So she probably didn't even have anything to do with the coffee shop incident."

"So, the killer...is in this house?"

"I think so."

Ruko's blood ran cold. If these two were close to figuring out Ruko's secret, she'd have to kill them too. But there was no way she could keep getting away with this. If she killed Miko and Ritsu, the only ones left in the house would be Tei, Teto and herself. There was no way she could avoid suspicion.

Then she had an idea. Teto needed help recognizing her love for Ruko. Ruko didn't need to wait for her to come to her senses.

Ruko was out for several hours after that. When she returned home, the house was asleep, and so were the four people inside. It was awfully silent. Ruko walked on her toes softly and rhythmically up the stairs and down the hall to her room. She set her shopping bags gently on the floor and returned to the kitchen.

The first criminal was Sukone Tei. Of course, she'd done nothing but help Ruko. But if Ritsu and Miko were to die, Tei would probably tell the truth to Teto. She couldn't risk that. Ruko gripped the firm handle of a knife in her right hand, thinking over how she'd carry out this execution. But when she opened the door to Tei's room, she was met with a startling sight: Tei's glowing red glare.

"You're predictable, huh?" Tei whispered, her unblinking stare holding Ruko still. "I know too much, so you came to kill me. Correct?"

Ruko didn't respond. She saw a gleam in the corner of her eye, and looked down to see a shining silver tip peeking out from behind Tei's back. A knife. That part wasn't surprising. At least once a week at the dinner table Tei would casually mention, "You know, I never go to sleep without a butcher knife under my pillow."

Ruko immediately broke out of her petrification, and pulled her knife to block Tei's. Using her height to her advantage, she used her other arm to pull Tei towards her, and lifted her knife to plunge it into the side of Tei's neck. Tei didn't scream or struggle, but just before Ruko released her, she felt an awful, stinging pain in her side. Tei lay on the floor just past the doorway, her butcher knife glistening again as it fell with her, the tip crimson with Ruko's blood. The pain spread throughout her body, so throbbing that it numbed any other feeling. But she deeply inhaled to try to focus her thoughts on her current mission.

The next criminal was Namine Ritsu. His door was cracked open, and as Ruko pushed it, she grimaced at the creak from its wood. Ritsu was inside, lying sprawled out on top of his blankets, still wearing his colorful, elegant costume. At the sound of Ruko's footsteps, he slowly opened his eyes, squirmed a little, and looked up at Ruko.

Ruko improvised. "I need help."

She gestured to the left side of her torso, the little trickles of blood beginning to soak the waist of her pants. Ritsu's eyes widened at the sight, and he pulled himself out of his lazing state. He placed his small shadowed hands over Ruko's wound. "Who did that?"

"Tei. I knocked her out." That was completely true, but she began to spin lies off of it. "I think she might have killed Uta and Momo and Oniko too."

"But why?" Ritsu was far from innocent. He was a brutal prankster and a bully. But he was only six. He was naive, that was the word. He was too naive to see through Ruko's lie. "Miko said she didn't think it was Tei."

"Why do you say that?" Ruko asked.

"Tei wouldn't be secretive about killing people," Ritsu explained. "She'd gloat about it and and threaten everyone. And Teto's way too upset to have done it, it's just impossible. That's what Miko said."

"But then why would Tei have hurt me?" If Ruko held on to this one truth, Ritsu would surely be fooled. But did it really matter? In the end, Ritsu had to die anyway. Why was she postponing it?

It was the confused fear in Ritsu's eyes, the only thing she could clearly see in the dark. Ritsu was still just a little boy. He could pass for a teenager at his height, sure, but at his core he was just a clueless child. Was Ruko really willing to kill a six-year-old boy?

The answer was simple. Ritsu may have been naive and clueless, but he was not innocent. He was one of the people trying to taint the love ingrained in Teto's heart. Ruko was going to make Teto see the truth, and she was willing to punish anyone who tried to steal that fate away from her. Even if Ritsu didn't realize it, he was guilty of that crime. It was a crime that warranted the death penalty.

Ritsu pulled Ruko to the bathroom, which was conveniently located right across the hall. There, he yanked open the doors to the medicine cabinet and the cupboard under the sink. He was so busy searching for gauze, he didn't seem to notice that Ruko was still tightly gripping her knife, a thin stream of Tei's blood trailing her. She tucked the knife quietly in her belt, careful not to damage her skin. 

Ritsu pulled some gauze from under the sink and, without any hesitation, pulled the left side of Ruko's pants down a bit. Ruko flinched. "D-don't you have any decency?"

Ritsu rolled his eyes. "Who cares! It's not like I'm stripping you!"

Ruko stayed still as Ritsu rubbed a wet cloth to rinse away the blood from her wound. When Ruko squinted, after the wound was cleaned up, it didn't seem too deep. Perhaps that could explain why she wasn't losing a fatal amount of blood, and why she didn't feel faint. Still, the pain had burned so fiercely in that part of her body, only dying down from the rinsing. Ritsu then pressed the white patch of gauze onto the cut, gently pushing into Ruko's side. "Does it hurt?" he asked, his eyes focusing on the gauze.

"Not anymore. It doesn't look so deep." Ruko watched Ritsu as he released one hand from the gauze and reached for a tube of cream. "How do you know how to do all this?" 

Ritsu smiled a little. "My mom was a nurse. This happened to me once and I watched her treat me this way."

That made sense. It explained why they had things like gauze and sterile bandages in the bathroom anyway. Ritsu wrapped a wide bandage around Ruko's torso, covering the exposed part of her body with white. She held her breath when he started, but he didn't actually look behind her, and his hand missed the handle of her knife. Ritsu stood up, his long, sunny orange hair bouncing with him. "I hope I did it right."

Now it was time. Ruko reached behind herself for her knife, and pulled it out of her belt. Keeping it hidden behind her, she took a step toward Ritsu and smiled.

"Thank you so much, Ritsu." She wrapped her arms around him, resting her head on his. Her knife crept up to his neck. "You should go back to sleep."

Just as she felt Ritsu's head nodding against her chest, he let out a choked gasp. He pushed his hands into Ruko, but his little body was too weak to push her away. The knife pushed deeper until the tip poked through the other side of his neck. As Ruko forcefully pulled the blade back out, Ritsu fell to the floor, his eyes and mouth still open in a silenced scream.

Ruko's eyes began to sting, and she wiped her sleeve. She turned so she wouldn't have to look at her friend's corpse. It was time to execute Ooka Miko.

Miko was a werewolf. A baby werewolf, to be specific. At night, she became a small tan wolf, about the size of a husky, with her unmistakable red eyes. She even had a doggy bed in her bedroom for when she slept in the dark, although she usually curled up in the regular bed.

The wolf was sound asleep, her stomach exposed. Ruko gripped her knife with both hands and raised it.

If Miko was spared, Teto would be stolen.

That thought was all she needed to channel her strength into plunging the dripping knife straight through the stomach. Miko's eyes opened frantically, and she let out a short sound--like a cross between a whimper and a screech--before a shadow of gray softened her startled glare.

Ruko returned to her room, tossed the knife on the floor, and picked a sledgehammer out of her shopping bag.

Teto was still asleep in her bedroom. She was in appropriate sleepwear, a loose black camisole and magenta flared shorts. Her rounded cheeks shined with dried tears, and a gentle whisper flowed in and out of her puckered pink lips. Her blanket had been tossed aside by her smooth, slender legs.

Her smooth knees were exposed.

If she were to discover what Ruko had done, her instinct would be to flee. She'd be so blinded by fear and anger that she wouldn't realize that Ruko was doing it all for her. So of course Ruko needed something to keep her home until she realized the truth. Still, the thought of hurting Teto was overwhelmingly frightening. Ruko imagined the pained screams and tears of disbelief. It made her own eyes sting, and as she brought down the hammer into her knee, her first tears of the night fell, and a whispered sob escaped her throat.

Teto flinched, her eyes flicking open. "Ah! R-Ruko...? I-is that...?"

"I'm sorry..." Ruko looked through her blurry curtain of tears at Teto, her soft red eyes widened with shock. "I'm doing this to protect you..."

"P-prote--" Teto's shaking words were cut by a short shriek as her other knee was hammered. "It hurts...it hurts so bad..."

"I know." Ruko whispered. She let the hammer fall with a harsh thud onto the wooden floor so that she could wipe her eyes. When her vision was cleared, she could see Teto's tears shimmering like stars on her face. 

"Ruko, what happened?" Teto's words were compressed by paralyzing fear into a forced whisper. She shifted uneasily as she pulled up her upper body with her arms. "Tell me what happened!"

Ruko told her the truth. She confessed that she was in love with Teto, and that she knew from the moment they met that they were fated to be lovers. She revealed that Uta and Momo were atrocious girls trying to destroy that fate, and so she had to execute them, as well as everyone else in the VIPPER house, to protect their fate. "I knew once I told you, you'd be scared, and you'd probably try to run away," she explained. Her justifications were enough to calm her voice down so it was steady and clear. "So I had to break your kneecaps so that you wouldn't. I know you need time to accept our fate, but you'll never be happy if you try to leave."

Teto didn't respond. It was strange. Ruko was trying to reassure her that she was safe, and Ruko would protect her. Yet Teto was still crying, her lips gently trembling as her tears dripped from her chin onto her bed. All Teto needed was some comfort. The situation had to be shocking, after all. Ruko pulled herself onto the bed so she sat beside Teto. She pulled her body into an embrace. Teto did not protest. She did not squirm or struggle, but instead let her head fall into Ruko's chest.

"Go back to sleep, okay?" Ruko whispered. "I'll be beside you, but first I need to clean up."

* * *

 

Everyone knew about the story of the VIPPER house massacre. But no one dared investigate. The neighborhood seemed to realize that Yokune Ruko, the only inhabitant who still left the house, was behind it all. Of course, Ruko realized this. In fact, she'd anticipated it.

After some time, every house in the neighborhood had been burned down. The VIPPER house was not left unscathed. After all, it was near some of the houses that had to be set on fire. Luckily, Ruko had prepared for this too, and she was able to suppress the flames with a fire extinguisher before they spread to inside the house. The survivors fled, and before long the neighborhood transformed into a ghost town.

The power of love was fascinating.

But something still bothered Ruko. Teto wasn't happy. After a month, Ruko expected Teto to come around, but she didn't. If anything, she got worse. No more pranks, no more smiles, no more laughs. That was wrong.

"I fell in love with you because you were the one who made me feel so warm and happy," Ruko told her one day. Teto was lying on the sofa, having been carried there by Ruko. Her knees were dressed in a triple layer of gauze, and her body was thin and bruised. Ruko didn't know where the bruises came from. Perhaps Teto had tried to walk and fell due to her broken kneecaps, but why would she do that?

"I miss your laugh," Ruko sighed, sitting on the floor against the sofa, her eyes now at level with Teto's. "Is there anything I can do to make you feel better?"

"No." Teto's voice, which had been so clear and vibrant, was now a dull whisper. "I miss you too. You were so innocent. I don't want to believe you turned out this way because of me."

"What do you mean?" Ruko asked. "You know I was only protecting you."

Teto's dull red gaze was glued to the ceiling. "I know that's what you think, but...if you really wanted me to be happy, why would you take away everyone I love?"

"Don't you understand?" Ruko reached towards Teto's slender, tawny beige hand dangling down and gently grasped it. "They would all betray you eventually. So I had to get rid of them so that they wouldn't hurt you, or lead you away from your fate."

"I know. But if I have to feel this way, I'd rather be dead with them." Teto finally turned her head, her eyes now full of gloomy stars. "Would you want that?"

Ruko didn't answer. She stood up and walked to the kitchen. Ruko didn't care about the world anymore. She didn't care if the whole world hated her, and she didn't care if there were only the two of them left in the entire universe. There were only two things Ruko needed to be happy: Teto's happiness and Teto's love. If she had that, she would be so unbelievably euphoric and her infinite joy would carry her and Teto, holding to each other, for eternity.

Ruko needed to be with Teto, forever. And if Teto wanted to do that by doing it in death, that was what Ruko was going to give her.

She returned to the sofa. The knife she gripped in her white glove was washed clean of the essence of the criminals she'd executed. This blade had taken Teto's friends to Hell, and if she used this blade on Teto and herself, surely they would be bound by their last drops of blood blending together, where the stains of those criminals once were. 

Ruko could see a tear leak from Teto's face, so round, pure, and innocent. Ruko closed her eyes, burning that blessed image into her mind, so it wouldn't be tainted by a dead, gray sheet covering her gaze in their last moments.

Ruko aimed her knife blindly, and shoved the blade over and over until she was certain she had found Teto's desperately beating heart. There, she took a harsh plunge to open that gate, to ensure that their fates would be entwined for good. Once Teto's little body was still, and the warm blood was spilling in a river, a pool around Ruko's bare feet, Ruko turned the knife in her hand and did the same to herself. A stab in the heart, over and over, to release her soul as Teto's waited, so they would finally be happy.

Ruko felt her life drain rapidly, and her weakened hand loosened it grip on the handle. Her knees buckled and she felt her head against the dampened carpet. As she felt her body growing numb, she retraced that image in her mind. Beautiful, innocent, charming Teto. The only thing missing from that image was her warm smile. But she would see it again, any minute now. She would be happy, and therefore, Ruko would be happy too.


End file.
